15 Years of Soldiers Angels

A Mother's Gift: Soldiers Angels marks 15 years of serving deployed military personnel

By Kathleen Petty

Photo Courtesy Soldiers Angels

Patti Patton-Bader vividly remembers seeing her dad get spit on by people at the airport when he arrived home after serving in Vietnam. So when her son Brandon was deployed to Iraq in 2002, she wanted to make him feel supported however she could.

Her dad suggested care packages. He helped Patton-Bader come up with a list of items and she stocked up on supplies, filling enough shoe boxes full of goodies that she could send Brandon one every day during the first six weeks he was gone.

When she heard from Brandon several weeks into his deployment, he was quick to tell her how much the items meant—not just to him but to his whole unit. Patton-Bader’s care boxes were one of just a few things being sent from back home, he told her, so he’d been sharing them with friends each day. From that conversation, the nonprofit Soldiers Angels was born.

The San Antonio–based organization celebrates 15 years this month and now sends over 27,000 care packages annually plus over 130,000 letters to men and women deployed in combat zones. “People don’t understand the impact of one little package or one letter or card,” says Amy Palmer, who took over as president and CEO when Patton-Bader retired about five years ago.

In 2013, Soldiers Angels expanded to support veterans—many of whom received care packages in the nonprofit’s early years—through hygiene kits provided at Veterans Affairs hospitals, snacks given during chemotherapy and other treatments and boxed lunches and food supplies handed out to homeless veterans.

Palmer says they’re particularly grateful to celebrate 15 years with their hundreds of volunteers because the nonprofit nearly closed as it approached its 10th anniversary. Between the recession of the previous years and the downturn in coverage of the war, the organization had fallen into debt.

Instead of closing, they cut costs, moved back to a home office model and were able to clear their debt within a year. Now back in a central office, they’ve continued to grow, providing over $17 million in aid a year through their care packages and other programs.

In honor of their 15th year, the nonprofit is hosting a massive packing event in San Antonio on Oct. 26—and asking volunteers in other states to host their own events—with the goal of packing 5,000 care packages, 5,000 hygiene kits and 5,000 boxed lunches in 15 hours.